Contributor's comments: In NSW, I say "joggers", but as a kid 25 years ago we had "gym boots", which were like sandshoes that came up around your ankle and had long laces.

Contributor's comments: Used in FNQ and NQ too. Pretty old fashioned now though - joggers more common.

Contributor's comments: Sandshoe was used in Adelaide in 50s and 60s. Probably less common now due to more specific terms (eg joggers) used for a wider range of shoes.

Contributor's comments: When I was a kid in Sydney we pretty much only used the terms "sandshoes", "sneakers" and "gym boots" interchangeably. This was before shoes became more high-tech.

Contributor's comments: Also in the NT. Top End.

Contributor's comments: I have lived in the western and northern suburbs of Sydney and I have always called these 'sandshoes'. But when I think about it, the shoes I wore as a child were made of canvas and were very different to the 'runner' of today. My children also call them 'sandshoes' but probably only because I do.

Contributor's comments: Sandshoes were the white (whitewashed for sports days) rubber and canvas lace up shoes worn when running, playing sport or tennis. I assume that most tennis courts were sand surfaced and sandshoes were sports shoes worn when playing. The gym boot was the high ankle canvas lace up in the 60's and usually the boys wore them. Joggers were not a clothing item known to us in country NSW around Cootamundra and environs.

Contributor's comments: I knew this word, growing up in the Wimmera in the 50's and 60's. They were usually white canvas shoes. I thought it was pretty terrific when I had a black pair in 1967.

Contributor's comments: Know as a sandshoe on King Island in the 60s & early 70s and not to be confused with a 'gym boot'.

Contributor's comments: I went to primary school in Brisbane in the 60's and when ever there was a sports day, we would get out the 'Sandshoes' and clean them with white shoe cleaner before the big day. A similar shoe now is the 'Dunlop Volley'.

Contributor's comments: In the 50's & 60's in SE Qld (Brisbane & coast) we called the white canvas & rubber sports shoes "sandshoes". They were usually Dunlop brand for me & I remember the whitewashing every weekend for tennis.

Contributor's comments: [Riverina informant] Sandshoes or "sandies" still used here (2714), as are "runners". "Trainers" I have heard used in England, and "joggers" is the newer of the words.

Contributor's comments: He'll get there on a sandshoe and a galosha. My father-in-law, born at Gravesend, near Inverell, used to use this expression. I think it means "he would get there any way he could". May be not - anyone else know? I used to wear both sandshoes and galoshas (the latter are rubber shoes which fit over good shoes). Not sure why you would wear both at once - probably refers to getting somewehere with whatever means is possible. Weird saying, eh what?

Contributor's comments: In Townsville sandshoes were the canvas upper with rubber lining (often a serpentine pattern on the sole) and the rubber toecap. They were the sort of shoe that I was always made to wear when going fishing or down the beach.

Contributor's comments: As a child in Sydney in the 60s & 70s, we had sandshoes (white, for sport), sneakers (coloured, casual canvas footwear) and gym boots (which came up over the ankle).

Contributor's comments: I still call all athletic shoes (apart from footy boots) sandshoes. Friends of mine use the terms runners, trainers etc, but I'm sticking to the old fashioned term, as is my whole family.

Contributor's comments: The term sandshoe was introduced to me by my parents in the 1950's. At my birthplace of Wellington in NSW. I beleived the term "sandshoe" was used to describe the canvas and rubber soled footwear that we (myself and my siblings) were required to wear whenever we visited or swam in the local rivers and creeks as to protect us from injury from sharp stones etc. which were present on the sandy banks and bottoms of the waterways. We kept them on whilst swimming and when we visited the coast on annual holidays we even wore them to the beach to protect our feet from shells/rocks and alike lying in the sand. We literally surfed with our sandshoes on.

Contributor's comments: Sandshoes were the standard footwear for school sports, etc in Melbourne in the 50s-60s, but I suspect sneakers might have taken over now. On another aspect: the ref to 'runners' - this too was the common schoolyard term for such sandshoes, but did we get a shock when we faced a primary school uniform list where runners were longish sports briefs for girls!